iRead Journal Prompt #2 for The Compound

-Often main characters will grow in confidence and learn how to accept themselves in some new way.  Cite an example of how the protagonist found a source of strength.  Describe how you felt as the reader when this happened.

Eli, the protagonist, found a source of strength from the internet that he occasionally was able to access.  He found a computer in his twin brother, Eddy’s, room.  He never wanted to go in there because he missed his brother so much.  He knew it would be an exact replica of the room from his original house, and it would bring too many past memories of him.  One day he decided to go in there, and he found Eddy’s old laptop that was still charging in the wall.  While Eli was looking through the computer, he recognized an internet icon, that had been deleted off his personal computer.  He has not seen this icon for over 6 years and it brought back many distant memories of staying up late at night playing video games and instant messaging his brother and his friends.  However, the internet was down. “That was the difference between this laptop, and the one I used.  Mine had no integrated wireless internet.” (37). The internet icon made Eli very suspicious of his dad and the information that he was telling all of them.  Eli felt that his dad was not telling him the truth about what was happening above ground.  He knew that his dad was keeping secrets from them, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.  The internet icon gave him the confidence to confront his dad about what information he knew about the Earth.  Eli decided to secretly keep the laptop because he wanted to explore more of it.  He went to his dad’s office and sat outside the door and tried clicking the internet icon again.  Eli got the message “Wireless network now connected.” Seeing that message helped Eli grow in confidence that there was somebody that was keeping the internet working.  It gave him confidence to find out who was still on Earth.  Curiosity started to eat at him to make him find out more information and, of course, the truth.  One day he got on the internet and saw his brother’s user ID on the instant messager.  He immediately started to chat with that ID, and confirmed that it really was his brother, Eddy.  At that moment, he knew that everything his father has told him so far was a lie.  The conversation with his brother really made Eli determined to get out of the compound, knowing there was no nuclear attack.  This source of strength caused him to physically fight his dad to get the code.  I feel like this encounter with the internet created a new part of Eli.  It brought out a new side of Eli that was more determined than ever to get the code from his dad to get out of the compound.  Now that Eli knew that his dad has been tricking his family for the past couple years, Eli started to revolt against his dad and confront him about the code.  If Eli didn’t search Eddy’s room, I believe that Eli would have stayed inside the compound for the remaining 9 years, never doubting his dad’s views on the outside world.